Mae Jemison

[GeoWilliam750]

Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American physician and NASA astronaut. She became the first African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992. After her medical education and a brief general practice, Jemison served in the Peace Corps from 1985 to 1987, when she was selected by NASA to join the astronaut corps. She resigned from NASA in 1993 to form a company researching the application of technology to daily life. She has appeared on television several times, including as an actress in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She is a dancer, and holds nine honorary doctorates in science, engineering, letters, and the humanities. She is the current principal of the 100 Year Starship organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Jemison

I am not sure if this has been posted before, but I saw a reference to Mae Jemison posted elsewhere on DU, and I thought that she deserved more attention. She is a seriously impressive person.

[F4lconF16]

1. I've heard of her!

She is a total badass. Thanks for posting, it's always good to refresh the memory

[longship]

2. Mae IS a seriously impressive person. R&K nt

[CTyankee]

3. wow. She is a genius! Amazing life story. Thanks for posting this!

[mercuryblues]

4. Forget all

that sciency and NASA stuff. What people really need to know, how good of a cook she is and is she pretty?

In all seriousness though I love this:

The embassy questioned whether Jemison had the authority to give such an order but she told them she did not need anyone's permission for a medical decision.